The Lesser Evil
by Spunky0ne
Summary: Aizen Sousuke and Urahara Kisuke share a secret that Soul Society has long forgotten. One accepted, while the other rebelled and paid the price. But what will happen when the past comes back to haunt them? Is love enough to stop a man who once sought godhood to right what he felt was wrong? And really, should he be stopped? yaoi, mpreg Aizen/Urahara
1. The Truth in Blood

**The Lesser Evil**

**By Spunky0ne**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**Okay, as promised, an Aizen/Urahara love story!**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**Chapter 1: The Truth in Blood**

"Urahara Kisuke," said the head councilor of Central 46, looking down from his place among his brethren to where the former taichou stood in the center of the chamber, "We appreciate you taking the time to come here. I know you are a busy man, so I will be brief. The battle with the quincies has claimed the lives of several taichous. As such, we have been charged with helping to decide who should replace them. In short, having given consideration to all of the candidates, we have decided that...you should have been included among them. The only reason that you were not is that you had been banished. And although this council has never before rescinded a banishment, we are willing to consider your contributions to Soul Society and offer you reinstatement. So, tell us, are you interested in returning to the twelfth division as its taichou? With Kurotsuchi Mayuri gone, missing and reported dead, the division is currently leaderless."

"What about Kurotsuchi Nemu?" Kisuke queried, "Where's she?"

"Missing and presumed dead as well."

_Or maybe the two are just off plotting together and don't want to be bothered._

"In any case, even if they do return," the head councilor went on, they are wanted for war crimes...for the unlawful collection of, experimentation on and alteration of a number of quincy captives. I assure you, they have a long list of offenses to account for. The Gotei 13 must convey an image of strength and commitment to duty. We feel that you would best represent our goals. So, what say you?"

Kisuke sighed softly, lowering his eyes.

"It strange," he said quietly, "When this all began and I was first expelled from Soul Society, there wasn't anything I wouldn't have done to be accepted back again. It was...painful, having done what needed to be done to stop Aizen, then to be instead blamed for the things he did, and the things I did to save lives he tried to take. It was tempting to hold a grudge, but instead I just tried to make something of a life, there in Karakura Town. And having put such great effort into creating the shop and caring for things there, I don't think I should abandon what I've built there."

"That is understandable," said the head councilor, "And it would certainly be fine that, as the head of the twelfth division, you could continue to make your base there. You would need to take part in taichou's activities and check in regularly with your division, but you would be welcome to bring Tessai in as your fukutaichou to assist in your efforts. We are rescinding his banishment as well."

"You are?" Kisuke said, looking surprised.

"Yes, we are. So, you see, the circumstances are favorable to you. We will only ask one thing of you if you return to us."

"And that is?"

The councilor looked around the room at his colleagues briefly, then back at Kisuke.

"If you accept our terms, we will ask that your first mission be...to find a way to remove the hougyoku from Aizen Sousuke's body."

"Heh," Kisuke mused, shaking his head, "I don't know if I can do that. It's been over a hundred years and I haven't managed to come up with that yet."

"Urahara Kisuke," the head councilor said firmly, "You are the greatest mind in our society. And you created the hougyoku. If there is anyone who could find a way to remove it from the traitor, Aizen's body, you can. So, what say you? Will you accept the taichou's position and this first mission?"

Kisuke gave them a sly smile.

"Well, I suppose if you can be forgiving and make a place for me here, I can be forgiving too. Okay, I accept your offer."

A pleased rumble went through the room.

"Very well, Urahara Kisuke, you are hereby reinstated as Taichou of the twelfth division and head of the Research and Development Department. And your first order is to remove the hougyoku from Aizen Sousuke's body."

XXXXXXXXXX

The sound of his cell door opening brought Aizen Sousuke into full wakefulness, and he cast his one uncovered eye on the doorway and couldn't help but smile at the person he saw entering.

"Why, Urahara Kisuke," he said cordially, "To what do I owe the dubious pleasure of your company?"

He looked more closely and his eye widened.

"Ah, I see. You have been reinstated. Let me offer you my congratulations."

"Thanks," Kisuke said, smiling back at him.

"So, let me guess," Aizen said sedately, "They have commissioned you with removing the hougyoku from my body, ne? Using any means you must...even if it kills me?"

"I see that being locked up hasn't dulled your mind," the twelfth division taichou commented, moving closer and beginning to remove the prisoner's restraints.

"Oh, of course not," Aizen said casually, "I am careful to exercise my mind to keep it fit, then I spend hours planning each step I will take, once I leave this place."

"You mean, in twenty-thousand years, when they have to let you go? Assuming that you don't get your time extended again for bad behavior, that is."

"Ah, but it is difficult to be properly wicked when one is tied to a chair all of the time, never fed or bathed, barely spoken to, except when they come to try to remove the hougyoku in various horrid ways."

"Oh?" Kisuke said, frowning as he slipped a silver band onto each slender wrist and then continued to work at the leather straps, "How have the fools tried to do that? Wait, let me guess, they tried to cut it out of your chest, ne?"

"Yes," Aizen confirmed, I just regenerated, of course, and the hougyoku reappeared in its place in my chest."

Kisuke sucked in a surprised breath as he uncovered the rest of the prisoner's arms and found them heavily bruised and still bleeding in some places.

"Ah," Aizen said quietly, feeling an odd twinge at the expression that came over the scientist's face, "They discovered that I regenerate more slowly when fully bound. So, when they torment me now, they are quick to set the bindings back in place quickly, so that I will suffer more."

"Have they raped you?" Kisuke asked, drawing a look of genuine surprise from Aizen...and a completely honest answer.

"Wouldn't you, if you had the most wicked traitor known to our society completely helpless in front of you and no one cared what you did to him, because he couldn't die? Don't be naìve. Of course they raped me. Repeatedly."

Kisuke said nothing in answer, only continuing to release the bonds.

"Does that please you?" Aizen asked, "But you don't look pleased. That is twice that you have taken me by surprise in a very short time. Perhaps I was wrong. Maybe the time locked up in here is causing my mind to weaken."

"No, I was just angry."

"Hmmm, angry because...?" Aizen asked, smirking, "Right, because you are a great defender of justice, aren't you, Urahara Kisuke? And it seems wrong to you, even though I am a foul criminal, to abuse my body and treat me to torments not prescribed for me in my sentence. And you are aware, aren't you? As soon as you discover the way to remove the hougyoku, they are going to confiscate it and be poisoned by its power."

"That's why I'm going to destroy it," Kisuke said simply.

"Are you?" Aizen asked curiously, "How will you do that? I suppose they will be watching you, ne? And if it looks like you are going to destroy it, they will try to stop you in whatever way it takes."

"Don't worry about that," Kisuke said, removing the last of the bonds and biting at his lip gently as he observed the heavy damage to Aizen's naked and fully revealed body, "I've got it covered."

A silence rose up between them as Kisuke watched the awful slashes and bruises slowly fade. Kisuke cleared his throat briefly and handed the former taichou a plain, white yukata.

"Put that on," he ordered the prisoner, "I am taking you to Karakura Town. I haven't had a chance yet to move my things back into the Seireitei, so we will conduct our experiments there, for now."

"A good move, since they have undoubtedly bugged the entire twelfth division, probably placing operatives within the ranks and such..." Aizen suggested.

"Of course," Kisuke agreed, "I expected that. The bonds I've placed on you are a new development of mine called dimensional overlay."

"That sounds fascinating," Aizen said approvingly, "How does it work?"

"Well, they open a sort of pocket dimension around you that separates you from this one, but allows me to 'reach in' and affect you."

"Is it also possible for me to 'reach out?'" Aizen asked.

"Only as much as I choose to let you and only in what ways I allow."

"How very crafty of you," Aizen complimented him, "I look forward to testing the parameters of this. It is a wonderful invention."

"Well, I couldn't just let you walk around hypnotizing everyone along the way, ne? And I have to get close to figure out how to separate you from the hougyoku, so..."

"I look forward to that _closeness_," Aizen chuckled slyly, "Although I haven't suffered from a lack of sexual attentions, they haven't been as pleasant as those a highly intelligent man like you might offer."

"It also protects you from being interfered with by people other than me unless I allow it," Kisuke said, ignoring Aizen's seductive words completely, "So, unless you really piss me off, no one but me has any access to you."

"You are protecting me?" Aizen said, an edge of surprise in is voice.

"Well, you were right that they would probably kill you as soon as that thing came out of you, if they could."

"So you...?"

"So, I am taking over your imprisonment, using this dimensional separator that I invented. Who knows, if it works well, we may not need to put people in jails anymore. With proper oversight, this device could revolutionize the way we treat and rehabilitate criminals."

"You think I can be rehabilitated?" Aizen asked, looking amused, "As unlikely as it is, I would really like to see you try that."

"Well, we'll see about that later," Kisuke said, motioning towards the open cell door, "For now, we're going to my lab in the living world."

Aizen paused, looking from the open door to Kisuke again.

"I suppose you have a means to locate and return me if I...stray?"

"Yeah. Let's put it this way. You can try to escape, but you will be brought back to me upon my command. You can try to hurt me, but you won't be able to reach me. All that exists that can touch you, and that you can touch is me. Your fate is completely in my hands...and if they had asked me to? I would have used this device to lock you into that pocket dimension you're in and throw away the key. I don't have that option, so this will have to do."

"I suppose I should be glad that you have some sense of morality."

"Yeah, you should."

"You are a very complex person, Urahara Kisuke. I have to say honestly that I am looking forward to seeing you tackle this. It will be interesting to see what you try."

The two exited the cell and passed through the security checkpoint, then slowly traversed the levels of the prison until they reached the surface. They left the Central 46 compound and stepped out into a lovely, spring afternoon. Aizen paused, breathing in deeply.

"I thought that I was not able to interact with...?"

"You are bound by the parameters I set," Kisuke explained, "I control everything...what you see, what you hear, smell, taste, and feel."

"That is an odd reversal, considering my powers," mused Aizen.

"I thought you'd enjoy that," Kisuke chuckled, "Anyway, I don't see any harm in letting you enjoy the fresh air an such, as long as you behave yourself and don't cause me any trouble. I can always take these things away at any time. But then, that's what you bought when you decided to turn against us all."

"You make it sound like more of a rash decision than the painful choice it was."

"You don't think it was painful for anyone else?" Kisuke asked, an edge in his voice, "You don't think it was painful for the people you deceived, injured and killed on your way to trying to 'stand at the top?'"

"Do you want me to be sorry?" Aizen asked calmly, "I'm not."

"I know."

"And you, of all people, know what made me make the choice I did. You didn't have the courage, although you had the mind and the powers to..."

"Don't go there. That's water under the bridge," Kisuke said shortly, "I said it then and I'll say it again, what we have may not be the only way or even the best way, but it is the way our world is constructed. If we abandon it just because we're angry about the way it works, then we'd only be destroying everything that matters."

"Ah, but when you said that before, it surprised me. You see...when you said that, you had already lost what mattered most to you...hadn't you, Urahara Kisuke?"

"Shut up!" Kisuke snapped, drawing a look of silent sympathy from the prisoner, "Don't bring that up. That's water under the bridge too."

"Is it?" asked Aizen, moving closer, "You might want to remember that _water under the bridge_ you are talking about was my brother! He _wasn't_ just your..."

"I told you to shut up!" Kisuke shouted, "Don't talk about that to me, ever again."

"Why not?" Aizen asked, his eyes narrowing, "Aren't you a champion of _truth_, Kisuke? The truth is that my brother was a good man...a better man than I am. He should have lived and I should have been the one to die! That bastard up there that I wanted so badly to murder and replace _knew_ that I was right and he just sat there and..."

"He did what he had to do," Kisuke said, shaking his head, "Please, just...don't say anymore. Let's go, okay? Or if you want, you can go back and sit in that cell in Muken for the next twenty-thousand years and just hope that nobody comes up with a way to take the hougyoku. Because, if they do that, they're going to kill you. Law or no law, they hate you that much."

"And you don't?"

"No?"

"Really? After everything?" Aizen mused, following as Kisuke opened the way into the precipice world and stepped inside, "Truly, Urahara Kisuke, you are a fascinating person. No wonder _he _loved you."

"Come on," Kisuke said darkly, turning his eyes away, "before I change my mind about this."


	2. Revival

**Chapter 2: Revival**

**(Thanks so very much to all of the enthusiastic supporters of this story. I am thrilled with the response and will keep the chapters coming. My gratitude to Nyma (Ah yes! The story of Aizen's brother and the circumstances surrounding his death will come out slowly, but some will be in this chapter!), PlayMyPoisonousGame (I'm so glad you gave this one a chance! I will do my best to keep it hopping!), Anon (Aizen doesn't like playing uke to anyone, but he does see Kisuke as his mental equal, so he might agree to it once before the story's over. We'll see!), Aizenfan6969 (Yay! So glad you're reading along!), MissLilly2012 (Ah yes, that is a story to be told! It will encompass why Aizen and Kisuke acted as they did and will bring them together as they search for an answer to separating Aizen from the hougyoku.), lilbit1016 (I'm glad you're enjoying it!), Kyuumihaira (Oh, the turns and twists I have planned!), Sakurayuri89 (Yay! I'm really motivated to keep this one active!), Henka-chan (Aww, so glad to sweep you off your feet!), CallMeSenseiKuchiki (I like trying new things too! I'm so glad this one was requested. The chemistry between these two is bubbling and spitting fire!), Alabirdie (Yup! I am working on getting in Blood Rain and A Thousand Pleasures, just working out what to do next with them, but soon!), Eva Galana (You are very, very welcome! I also think that Kisuke is one of the few people Aizen actually respects. And Kisuke is a little this side of dark, himself, so yeah, they seem to click! Thanks so much for suggesting it!), and Sariniste (These two have a secret between them and that makes their interactions more complex. Kisuke is guarded, but has more insight into Aizen than most people. He's going to keep his guard up, but Aizen is a determined and crafty man. He's going to be a real temptation!) Enjoy the chapter! Love, Spunky) **

"What's wrong?" Kisuke asked as he led his prisoner into the underground training room and nodded in the direction of the nearby hot spring, "You looked surprised for a moment, there."

"I was," Aizen confessed, "I would have thought that your first concern would not be my comfort, but attendance to your mission. You do, after all, concur with the council that I should be deprived of the hougyoku as soon as possible."

"Of course I do," Kisuke said evenly, "I just don't want to have to smell the stench of your unwashed body while I work on you."

"Hmmm, that makes sense," Aizen said, slipping out of his yukata and watching as Kisuke disrobed, then led him down into the bubbling water.

He sighed contentedly and slid down beneath the surface, eager to rid himself of the dust and filth, and the sticky leavings of his more recent attackers. He could feel Kisuke's grey eyes watching him as he surfaced and slowly washed away the grime, then stood and walked to one of the gentle waterfalls, where he washed his hair repeatedly until the stiffness and dullness gave way to its original softness and shine. When he was completely clean, he returned to the soaking area and sank down next to Kisuke, smirking slightly as he noticed an aggressiveness in his eyes and that he had shifted slightly to hide what the former taichou suspected was an impressive arousal.

"You have my gratitude," he said quietly, "Cleanliness might not seem important sometimes, but when one is deprived of it for a long time, he very much appreciates its return."

"No worries. Like I said, I didn't want to smell your stink. Feel free to spruce up when we're done here. I put your usual fragrance over there with some fresh clothes."

"To what do I owe the exceptional kindness?" the former taichou asked, his eyes narrowing slightly, "One might think that you had an ulterior motive. Perhaps you just wanted to see me naked?"

"Oh, I'll have plenty of that while we're figuring out how to get that thing out of your chest. And any kindness I show you is only on your brother's account, seeing how I owe him a lot I can't repay."

"I see."

Kisuke sighed and closed his eyes, leaning back against the edge of the hot spring.

"He was a good kid...a much better person than you and me. He was a great scientist too."

"Hmmm, it didn't escape me that you followed up on a great deal of his work. I have to say that it speaks to what you must have felt for him."

"Does that bother you?"

"No. Not at all. Daisuke was certainly of age to make his own decisions. And while I didn't agree with all of them, his connection with you was a promising one, if only for the scientific advances that you made together. That your interest in him became sexual didn't matter much to me, as I knew you would not mistreat him."

"Is that why you think I won't 'mistreat' you?" Kisuke asked, looking at him out of the corner of one grey eye.

"It doesn't matter whether you do or not. You couldn't possibly be any worse than those animals that guarded me in the prison."

"And you think that you deserve better than that, after what you did?" Kisuke asked, a tension coming into his voice, "You can make all of the excuses in the world, Sousuke, but that doesn't take away what you did to those councilors, slaughtering them, one by one, without any warning and no explanation. You enjoyed killing them, too."

"Yes. They deserved it. You know they did."

"Yeah, well, no one else understood that, and you know why."

"They erased everything," Aizen mused, his voice softening slightly, "His creation of the hougyoku, the death they sent him to, their own memory, because they thought the hougyoku too dangerous to exist."

"It was a power they weren't ready to understand. And after they started to see how powerful it was, they decided that it just couldn't be."

"They should have killed you too," Aizen said suddenly, "We should have been with him. If not for you, we would have been."

"You mean, if Daisuke hadn't covered up our connections..."

"And you hadn't gotten in my way."

"I did what he wanted. He didn't want you to die because of what _he_ created! I just respected that. I couldn't save him, at that point, and you know that."

"That is the only reason I didn't end up hating you enough to kill you then."

"No, you settled for bastardizing what your brother created for peaceful uses and setting me up to be banished."

"Well, at least they didn't execute _you_," Aizen reminded him, frowning, "You seem comfortable enough here, not bothered by what those corrupted old men do. You shouldn't have gone back. This is better."

"Well, I'm not exactly leaving this behind," Kisuke said, sitting up slowly, then climbing out of the hot spring.

Aizen followed, his dark eyes trailing down the shopkeeper's bare back and watching the dribbles of water roll down over his rounded bottom. Kisuke stopped and picked up a towel, then handed a second one to Aizen. Aizen caught a fleeting glimpse of Kisuke's pale chest, slightly erect nipples, slim abdomen and somewhat aroused genitals, then frowned more deeply as he spotted what looked to be an old injury on the shopkeeper's abdomen. He moved closer, ignoring the way the other man stiffened and quickly covered himself.

"Kisuke?"

"Don't ask about it."

Aizen went quiet, considering.

"You...tried to save him anyway? You too?"

"I said not to ask about it!" the shopkeeper snapped, flash stepping away, "Just dry off, dress and meet me in the lab."

"Hmmm," the former taichou mused to himself, "Interesting..."

He took his time dressing, then climbed the ladder that led out of the training room and emerged into the house portion of Kisuke's shop. He paused as a tall, mustached man with dark hair and glasses stepped into the hallway and stopped in front of him.

"Urahara taichou has asked me to see that you eat before you go to join him."

"No, thank you. I have very little reiatsu flow, so I don't need much food."

"You will come with me," Tessai insisted, laying a hand on his arm.

Aizen flinched as he felt a small shock in his arm and his feet moved to obey the directive. His lips stiffened, but he followed calmly and sat down at the table, where the other man had laid out a large meal for him.

"The tests and experiments Urahara taichou will be running will require you to have sufficient stamina to endure them. Eat."

He complied without comment, stealing glances at the other man as he turned away and began to make a pot of tea.

"How have you been, Tessai?" he asked cordially.

"You mean, since being reinstated from the banishment I earned because of you?" the other man asked shortly, "I am fine, if a bit annoyed at having you show up here and have to treat you much like a guest."

"I can see how that would be troubling, but if Kisuke puts his mind to things, then I should be out of your way quickly."

The other man glanced over his shoulder and scowled.

"Not soon enough for me. Enough talking, now eat."

Aizen sighed and focused on the meal in front of him, consuming it in slow, measured bites, so as not to shock his long deprived systems. A soft sigh of contentment went through him at the deep, savory flavors he had missed, the variety of textures and the sweetness of the delectable pastry served with his tea at the end. His eyes were blinking sleepily as he rose and started to follow Tessai down the hallway.

He came to a stop, halfway down the hall, feeling a strange burning in his abdomen, and reaching down to rub the area as he continued into the lab. He felt a swirl of dizziness and heard Kisuke say something, then felt himself falling and heard himself loose an agonized gasp. Urgent hands swiftly opened his yukata and healing power blazed all around his collapsed form. He caught a glimpse of Kisuke's infuriated face and heard him make a sound of disgust.

"I was stupid thinking that they wouldn't have had people ready here. This guy has a ton of enemies."

"But, they must have known it wouldn't kill him," Tessai objected, "Even though the poison burned away much of his stomach, he just regenerates."

"This wasn't meant to kill him," Kisuke explained, "Someone wanted him in pain. They wanted him to suffer agony. If not for that pain block I gave him, he would be out of his mind with hurt."

"May I ask you a sort of indelicate question, Boss? Why do you care about his pain? After everything he did...?"

"Just because he's a total bastard and he screwed us all over real bad doesn't make him any less a living soul. If it was wrong to do what he did, it's also wrong for someone to do this to him. He's serving his time. The assholes at that prison put him through a living nightmare way worse than what those councilors suffered when he killed them."

"I know a lot of people who would think he deserves worse."

"Yeah, well, they're not responsible for him. That's my job."

"It will be a relief when you finish separating him from the hougyoku and he is sent back, ne?"

Kisuke was silent for a moment.

"Yeah. I think he'll be all right now. His stomach and intestines seem to have finished regenerating. But there was some internal bleeding and contamination that seem to have caused an infection. I'm going to give him an antibiotic. Give him another pain block before you go, okay?"

"Sure, Boss."

Aizen felt the touch of the bigger man's palms on his abdomen, then began to fade into unconsciousness.

"You know, sometimes you remind me of him," Kisuke's voice said quietly, as though he didn't expect to be heard, "Maybe that's why I can't completely hate you. Maybe that's why..."

The words faded out and the room went still and dark. His only awareness was of a pair of grey eyes that watched closely as he slept and occasional touches of a cool, wet cloth on his face and throat.

_Urahara Kisuke, you are a complex man._

_Fascinating..._

XXXXXXXXXX

"So, what's going on, Tessai?" Ichigo asked, frowning, "What does Kisuke need me and Tetsuya for?"

"Well," the bespectacled man said solemnly, "You are about the only people with any amount of power that would not take any chance to attack Aizen Sousuke."

"Aizen!" Ichigo exclaimed, "What's that about? What's going on? Isn't Aizen in Muken?"

"Actually, no," Tetsuya said, a flash of guilt showing on his face, "It is not meant to be spoken to anyone not of highest clearance, but Central 46 ordered Aizen turned over to Urahara Kisuke so that he could try to find a way to remove the hougyoku from his body. I am sorry that I could not tell you, but I only knew because I was with Byakuya-sama when the taichous were informed. We were all sworn to secrecy."

"So, Aizen's here?" Ichigo mused, looking spooked, "Is he still all tied up?"

"No, the boss is using another means to control him," Tessai explained, "Don't worry. He can't harm anyone as he is right now. But, unfortunately, someone harmed him. They poisoned his food, brazenly and while we were all on our guard. I still have not figured out how it was done."

"Didn't the hougyoku just make him regenerate?"

"Yes, but that does not take away the agony of the poison that attacked and destroyed his stomach and intestines. Regeneration of them was slow and exceedingly painful."

"And even though we might not like Aizen or what he did, it's not right for someone to attack him like that."

"That is how Urahara taichou feels," Tessai affirmed, "So, he wants you to remain with us for a few days. We have cleared Tetsuya-san's stay with Kuchiki taichou, and he and Renji-san will be here to rotate with you to guard the shop while we conduct the necessary experiments."

"We will, of course, help out watching over things," said Tetsuya, "Arashi is with my cousin, but he will join us here and assist with the watch once Byakuya-sama and Renji-san arrive."

"How was their wedding, by the way?" Tessai asked, the hint of a smile touching his lips.

"Oh, you know, it was a clan leader's wedding, so the ceremony was boring as hell," Ichigo chuckled, "but the party after was good, ne Tetsuya?"

The noble blushed and bit at his lips gently.

"It was...enjoyable," he confessed.

"All right, let's go take up our positions," Ichigo said, taking his lovely boyfriend's hand.

"Just you mind you watch the shop and don't be too distracted with each other," Tessai said sternly.

"Okay, okay!" laughed Ichigo, "C'mon Tetsuya.

XXXXXXXXXX

Aizen Sousuke felt a throbbing ache in his head and belly and groaned uncomfortably, trying to turn onto his side, but finding that his body had been set in soft restraints. He opened his eyes and found himself strapped to an examination table, his yukata opened and his naked body bared to a strong light. Electrodes had been carefully placed here and there on his slender, muscular torso and the hougyoku removed.

He turned his head slightly and found Kisuke sitting in a lab chair, holding and examining the hougyoku, then taking notes into his computer.

"Hang on a sec," he said absently, "I'll be over there in a minute and turn off that light. It's probably blinding you."

"I am fine," the former taichou answered calmly, "though I would have preferred if you had done me the decency of covering me while you were not examining me."

"Since when did you become shy?" Kisuke said, smirking.

"I am not shy in the slightest. It is uncomfortable because of my recent experiences with the guards in the prison."

"Oh."

Kisuke rose and set the hougyoku down, then walked back to Aizen's side and turned off the bright overhead light. He leaned over the restrained man, carefully removing the electrodes, his grey eyes politely averted, but still observing his naked charge. He released the restraints, then turned away as Aizen wrapped his yukata around his body and tied it closed again.

"You look perplexed," he observed, watching as Kisuke picked up the hougyoku again.

"I am...a little," the shopkeeper sighed, "This is going to take some real work. It's tedious thing, having to do all of it myself, but there aren't many people who know enough not to screw up the experiments."

"You could allow me to assist you," Aizen offered.

"And have you mess with the results?" Kisuke mused wearily, "I'm not that stupid."

"It may surprise you to know that I do not wish to have this device inside me any longer," Aizen said quietly, "As a matter of fact, as it no longer speaks to me, I find its presence annoying."

"But it does make you immortal."

"Hmmm," Aizen said thoughtfully, "That has turned out to be a rather dubious gift."

Kisuke considered the other man's words for several long minutes.

"That's interesting coming from you."

"I have had many long hours to consider it while those beasts tortured me. Before I am returned to that, I would rather have the possibility of living through that removed. If it doesn't deter them from attacking me, then at least the torment will not be allowed to go on indefinitely. That is a cruelty that even I had trouble tolerating. The men I killed in the council chambers all died nearly instantly, the only thing they heard as they died the soft utterance of my brother's name to make them remember."

"So, you may not mind killing, as long as it's fast and not cruel? Such a humanitarian," Kisuke sighed.

"I don't believe in causing unnecessary suffering."

"Yeah, well sometimes suffering is unavoidable."

"And sometimes it could be avoided if only one made the proper effort. But you know that _he _doesn't concern himself overly much with what happens to us down here. I know you disagree with what I did, but I felt there was no choice, but if the heavens wouldn't listen and act to help us, then they needed to be soundly shaken. That was all I meant to do."

"That, and kill the king and steal his power," Kisuke added dryly.

"That too," Aizen confessed, "but it wouldn't have been necessary if..."

"Yeah, I know the story and the excuses. Now, why don't we..."

"Kisuke," Aizen said suddenly, touching a palm to the other man's clothed abdomen, "Will you tell me what happened to you?"

"No," Kisuke answered in a clipped tone, "You could have asked one of the counselors in the chambers that day you went there, but, oh no...you killed them all. Now, I guess you just have to wonder."

He sucked in a surprised breath as Aizen's hand wrapped lightly around his wrist and the traitor's dark eyes captured his.

"You know, I studied that technique you used on Rukia to place the hougyoku within her, and I realized it was based on a technique that you and Daisuke were using to try to..."

"Shut up!" Kisuke snapped, stepping back and pulling his hand free, "That's none of your business."

Aizen watched him closely as he sat down and picked up the hougyoku again.

"What happened to the baby?" he asked softly.

"It died. I got stupid, I got hurt, the baby died. Now, shut up and leave me alone, will you?"

"I am sorry."

Kisuke froze for a moment, then shook his head and went on with his work. Aizen moved closer and sat down in a chair at his side, watching as the shopkeeper's mind considered the puzzle of the orb he held.

"Daisuke would have been a good father."

"Yeah."

Kisuke sat quietly, staring at the hougyoku and remembering.

"Why don't you look at what's in that opened file on my computer?" he instructed Aizen, "Maybe if the two of us put our minds to it, we can figure this out."

Moments later, the two were seated side-by-side, reading through the file together. It was late at night when Kisuke yawned and halted the examination, leading Aizen out of the lab and down the hallway to his bedroom.

"I was going to give you your own room," Kisuke explained, opening the door and motioning for the other man to enter, "but given the reception you got when you arrived, I think I'd better keep you a little closer. Just remember what I said about not attacking me. You can't."

"Very well, I will content myself with just sleeping. Lying down will be far more comfortable than being always in that chair."

"Yeah," Kisuke yawned, lying down and turning his back, "Enjoy it while it lasts."

"I will," Aizen breathed in his ear, surprising a small gasp from between the shopkeeper's parted lips as his body wrapped warmly around Kisuke's, "Thank you."


	3. Moments of Weakness

**Chapter 3: Moments of Weakness**

**(Hey kiddos! I had a request from SakuraBlossom58, so here you go! Happy Aizen's birthday everyone! This is the last chapter for today, but more will continue to post. I won't forget our bad boy Aizen, even when May ends. Spunky promises!)**

_Kisuke felt warm, gentle hands slide down his torso, honing in on the small rounded bump on his abdomen, just beneath his belly button. He let his eyes remain closed and sighed contentedly as Daisuke's pleasant reiatsu seeped in under his skin and wrapped around the small chamber inside him that carried the developing reiatsu of their baby. And as he continued the comforting infusion, he breathed loving words into his resting mate's ear._

_"You are so beautiful carrying our child, my love. I can't wait to tell Sousuke. I know he will probably disapprove of me doing something so impulsive, but he will understand why I did. I know he has seen how much I have come to love you...how much I treasure having you in my life. Urahara Kisuke, it is only the luckiest man in the world that should win your heart. Your heart is so lovely...so passionate. How did you ever come to love a simple thing like me? I suppose it was me making the hougyoku that made it happen. And as much as I regret making it, I can't regret that it brought you to me and made you mine. I love you so much. I will always love you. My heart will always be here with you."_

_"And mine will be with you," Kisuke whispered, opening his eyes to meet Daisuke's wide, handsome smile._

_Daisuke bent and kissed him several times as his hands and reiatsu caressed the area around their child's reiatsu. Their eyes went hazy and together they looked into the future. From thoughts of being waked out of sleep by their child's cries, to long walks through the lovely gardens around Daisuke's country home and grounds...from lazy afternoons spent reclining under the blossoming plum trees, their child napping contentedly on Kisuke's slowly rising and falling chest to playing in the long grass, laughing and hugging, soothing the small hurts of childhood and gently guiding their progeny through every small move forward._

_"It's going to be beautiful, being parents," Daisuke dreamed aloud, making a cute smile crawl across Kisuke's face._

_"It's going to be challenging managing anything that comes from our strong reiatsu, Kisuke mused, "This kid's going to pack a wallop, that's for sure."_

_"And not only that," Daisuke reasoned, "Our child will be exceptional in academics. With two talented scientists for parents?"_

_"Yeah," Kisuke agreed, "Hope the poor kid didn't have his or her heart set on being some kind of superhero or something. Those guys who do the fighting aren't always the best thinkers. They usually have a guy like you or me to do their thinking for them, so that they can focus on just saving the day."_

_Daisuke's laugh tickled Kisuke's insides, and he felt little twinges in his belly. He reached down and rubbed the area, smiling and kissing Daisuke as his lover's hand curled around his. Their kisses continued and grew gradually more passionate. Daisuke's brown eyes softened and glowed with affection and flickers of power continued to light his slender hands where they roamed over Kisuke's bare body. The blonde man's head tilted back and he watched out of thinly slitted eyes as Daisuke's lips and tongue pleasured his white throat and flushed earlobe. Daisuke kissed his way down to the blonde man's chest and lingered there, very slowly, teasing one erect nipple and caressing the other with the fingertips of one hand. Kisuke groaned and relaxed, spreading his thighs and breathing deeply, enjoying the powerful feeling of connection between them as Daisuke continued the loving exploration._

_Daisuke paused to wet his fingers in Kisuke's mouth before sliding them down his lover's body and beginning a very thorough preparation, that was as much as way of showing his appreciation for his lover's beauty as paving the way for their eventual joining._

_"You know you don't have to go to so much trouble," Kisuke panted softly._

_"I like touching you there," Daisuke breathed into his ear, making Kisuke's earlobe flush more brightly and his lips curve upward in reaction, "I like making you smile like that too."_

_The fingers of his free hand traced Kisuke's lips and he kissed the blonde man again on the hungry mouth, moaning as Kisuke's hands returned his gentle caresses and his desire intensified. Still, he finished the preparation unhurriedly and moved slowly even as he positioned himself between his pregnant lover's thighs. He smiled down at Kisuke and brought their bodies together in small, gentle thrusts until he was fully entrenched and both were flushed and panting._

_Daisuke's chest rose and fell fitfully as he waited patiently for his lover to adjust and to indicate his readiness. Kisuke grunted impatiently, but received only a reproving look and an admonishment not to tax himself too much._

_"Don't worry, I won't," Kisuke assured him, falling quiet again under a sweet barrage of staying kisses._

_Daisuke held him down and began his thrusting at the same relaxed pace, watching the relief spread over the blonde man's face, then the gradual overtaking of pleasure as they moved together. Kisuke's mouth sought his lover's and his kisses grew increasingly urgent. He writhed fitfully beneath his brown-eyed companion, nipping impatiently at Daisuke's tender flesh, leaving light markings along his throat. Daisuke gave him a sly smile and moved his hips more forcefully, dragging a passionate moan from between Kisuke's parted lips. He raised himself slightly, allowing for greater range of movement and bringing their lovemaking to its heights. Kisuke's back arched and he gasped and clenched at the bedding, his mind in a shambles as Daisuke's whispered words undid him more easily than their now thunderous movements._

_"Kisuke...my love, my heart, watashi wa anata no mono!"_

_Kisuke's grey eyes glazed over and his body stiffened, then shuddered beautifully in release. He couldn't hold back a hard cry of blinding pleasure as Daisuke pressed his slender body tightly against his lover's and filled him with blazing heat that left both in a sweaty, happy tangle on the bed._

_"O-oh!" Kisuke sighed languidly, "Oh kami, you'd better never leave me. I think I'd lose my mind!"_

_"Hush now, don't say things like that," Daisuke scolded him sweetly, kissing away the offending words, "I told you that I am yours forever."_

_"Heh, sorry," Kisuke chuckled, "I can't seem to get rid of the skeptic in me. I'm trying."_

_"You and my brother," Daisuke mused sleepily, "You are two of a kind."_

_"Yeah," Kisuke agreed, "Poor you."_

_"I don't feel poor," the brown-eyed man said, smiling and rubbing his lover's slightly rounded abdomen, "I don't feel poor at all."_

_"Same here," Kisuke agreed, "I have everything I need right here."_

_"We have everything we need."_

Kisuke came awake to the sound of booming thunder and the pitter-pat of falling rain. He was sure that the rain must have invaded the room and fallen on his face. He swallowed hard, trying to force down the heavy emotion that always followed his dreams about his lost lover.

"Damn..." he whispered, sniffing softly.

Then, he noticed how much Aizen Sousuke resembled his late brother, when turned away and sleeping soundly. He stared at the back of the man's head, trying to pretend for just a moment that he had gone back and his lover was warm and alive, and right next to him. Reality, he knew, was much more cruel.

_But at least there are moments...memories...dreams._

_But sometimes, there are nightmares too._

_And the biggest nightmare is lying right there._

Is it difficult to sleep next to me?" Aizen asked calmly, breaking the twelfth division taichou out of his reverie, "Should I make sure to face you so that you won't become distraught?"

"I'm not distraught," Kisuke said shortly, rubbing his hands over his face, "He was my lover. It shouldn't be surprising that I miss him, that I still think about him and sometimes dream about him."

Aizen turned and sat up, running his fingers through his short, dark hair and blinking slowly in memory.

"It's not surprising," Aizen agreed, "and it speaks to how much you loved my brother, and your unborn child."

Kisuke's lips quivered and tightened for a moment, but he bit back an icy reply and instead just looked back at Aizen through weary eyes.

"Can I help you fall asleep again?" Aizen offered.

Kisuke's eyes narrowed.

"No, thanks. I'm not falling into that trap. I'm not stupid, Sousuke."

"I don't think you're stupid," Aizen replied, studying him in the darkness, "I do think you are choosing an unnecessarily harder path, resisting my help."

"I know exactly what your _help _would mean. You aren't going to use my feelings for _him_ to seduce me!"

"Touchè," Aizen said, smirking, "That is a strong temptation. But, didn't you tell me that I can only reach you as much as you allow?"

"Yeah, I said that."

"Then, what is the harm in allowing me to comfort you?"

"Why do you want to _comfort_ me?" Kisuke countered suspiciously.

"Perhaps because without you, I would still be in that cold, dark place, being beaten and raped, spat upon and left to suffer. I would be living in fear of the day that someone broke the power of the hougyoku and killed me."

"But shouldn't you fear that more now?" asked the shopkeeper, "You said before that I was probably the greatest mind in Soul Society, a mind perhaps greater than your own and the one person whose mind could triumph over yours."

"Yes, I did say that. And I still believe it. I think the technique you've created to keep me imprisoned, under your complete control is both imaginative and indicative of the greatness of your intellect."

"Oh, Sousuke, you know, flattery's not gonna get you anywhere," Kisuke huffed derisively.

"Tell me, where will _this_ get me?" Aizen said softly, leaning forward and bringing their lips together.

Kisuke froze as sudden warmth flooded his body and his loins ached longingly. His eyes went cold and all traces of levity left his voice.

"How about sent straight back to Muken?" he threatened the traitor stiffly, "Don't _ever_ touch me like that again!"

"Urahara Kisuke," Aizen said, looking into the shopkeeper's furious gaze, "If you don't want me to touch you, then why did you allow it just now? You could have stopped me."

He watched as the blonde man seemed to go into his head for a moment, struggling with himself.

"You don't have to answer," Aizen assured him, "I know it was because you loved my brother, not any feelings you have for me. I know that what you feel for me is nowhere near the level of emotion you spent upon my brother. You truly gave everything to loving him. I find that both horribly sad and strangely uplifting at the same time."

"I'm so glad I could make your day," Kisuke said dryly.

"You should relax," Aizen advised him, "I can do nothing to hurt you. Even if you let your guard down a little, like you just did, it won't allow me to harm you. What it will allow is for me to return a small bit of the debt I owe you for making my brother so content for the time that you were with him. I am grateful. You should let me do more to express that."

"I don't need your gratitude...your comfort...anything you have to offer," Kisuke said, lowering his eyes, "What was between him and me had nothing to ever do with you. And the debt was mine for him. I owed Daisuke more than can ever be repaid."

Aizen leaned close again and Kisuke surprised himself by making no effort to stop him.

"You did try to repay him...by bringing his child into the world."

Aizen's hand slid down to rest for a moment on Kisuke's trim abdomen.

"I'd do anything to have him back," the shopkeeper confessed.

Aizen gave a barely perceptible nod.

"That is the real reason that you stole his research and made your version of the hougyoku," he told the stunned shopkeeper, "isn't that right?"

"What if it is?" Kisuke said numbly, "It doesn't matter. You saw what happened. I couldn't do it. I couldn't perfect it. And in the end, I wished I hadn't tried, because the hougyoku was too dangerous, even for a man with good intentions."

Aizen started to answer, then went still as the hougyoku flickered very softly, and a soft light glowed within Kisuke's lower abdomen, making the two men stare in surprise.

"What is that?" Kisuke wondered aloud, "Why did it do that?"

Aizen's eyes widened and his fingertips caressed the skin of Kisuke's bare belly.

"Fascinating!" he mused.

"What is that?" Kisuke asked in a spooked voice, "What the hell is happening?"

"I think you know the answer already," Aizen said solemnly, "Something within you is resonating with the hougyoku."

Kisuke gazed back at him incredulously.

"What are you doing, you bastard!" he yelled, jumping out of the bed and backing away, "You're trying to get inside my guard. It won't work!" he insisted.

"I am not doing anything," Aizen answered calmly, "You know that I can't use my powers. How could I be deceiving you?"

"Not you," Kisuke panted, glaring, "That thing in your chest! That abomination that we have to destroy! It's trying to confuse me!"

"The hougyoku is not able to use its greater powers either," Aizen reminded him, "Like mine, its powers too are sealed away. The only things the hougyoku still can do is to extend its possessor's life and grant the wishes of the ones around it. If it found this remnant in your body, it is because you desired the way to..."

"_Stop_, damn you!" Kisuke hissed, "Our baby _died_! You think I didn't examine myself thoroughly to find some bit of hope? You must think I'm very stupid to think I'll fall for this crap!"

"You are being too emotional," Aizen chided him, "You don't want to see the truth because it is too painful. I understand. If you want to blame and threaten me, then I suppose you will. But no matter what you do, you know you will seek the truth of what the hougyoku has found within you."

"No," Kisuke said, shaking his head firmly, "No way! This is a lie! You and that thing..."

"We have no power to do what you are suggesting," Aizen said firmly, "Use your intellect, Kisuke. You know I can't be doing this. The hogyoku can't be doing it. There is some part of my brother's reiatsu still in you. And if that is true, then..."

"I told you to _stop_, damn it!" Kisuke howled, bringing on the sound of pounding feet in the hallway. Tessai pounded on the door.

"Boss! Boss, are you all right?" he demanded.

Kisuke stared down at his stomach in dismay, panting softly and his heart pounding madly. He gathered himself as Tessai's weight crashed into the door and tore it off its hinges. Aizen and Kisuke looked up at the desperate intruder and Kisuke cleared his throat softly, seeming to regain some equilibrium.

"S-sorry," he apologized to the big man, "I was...just surprised by something. I am fine."

Tessai glanced at the remains of the shattered door.

"Eh," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck ruefully, "Sorry Boss."

"Don't worry about it," Kisuke sighed, smirking slightly, "It's fixable."

"I'll just leave you then," Tessai said, picking up the broken door and wedging back into the doorway.

Aizen watched closely as Kisuke sighed again and frowned unhappily.

"I wish that thing had never been made," he whispered, "I don't care that it made my pregnancy possible. It was supposed to be the granter of dreams...something to enrich the lives of everyone around it. That's the reason he made it...and it's the reason I took it and tried to complete it."

"I also continued my brother's work and tried to perfect the hougyoku for that same reason," Aizen added.

"But all that came of it was a living hell," Kisuke breathed sadly, "Our baby died, Daisuke died...and pretty soon, you and the hougyoku are gonna die too."

"Is that what you want?" Aizen asked, eyeing him closely, "Is that what you _really _want, Urahara Kisuke? Is that _all _you want?"

"No, it's not all I want. It doesn't begin to touch what I really want. I want your brother alive and well and back with me! I want our kid and the future that we planned for him or her! I want you to never have tried to use the hougyoku to hurt anyone! But none of that matters, because it's not gonna happen! The hougyoku only makes happen what has some chance of actually happening, not things we don't have the power to affect."

"Well," Aizen observed, looking quietly at Kisuke's flat abdomen, "you may not be able to revive Daisuke and you may not be able to take back what I did, but I think you know that the hougyoku is indicating that there _is _a way to complete the reiatsu in you and give my brother the child you dreamed of together."

"No way!" Kisuke whispered, his mind breaking as the reality of the situation finally reached him, "That...is just not possible!"


	4. Twin Devils

**Chapter 4: Twin Devils**

**(I have been wanting to update this one forever, and in honor of Kisuke's funny chapter helping Yoruichi in battle this week, here's a new one for Aizen and Kisuke. :) I'm so happy it's Friday! I will be off and on vacation, resting and writing to my heart's content all next week. Ahhhh, so ready for that. It's been an exhausting week! Love to you, Spunky)**

Kisuke stared into Aizen Sousuke's deep brown eyes raptly, his mind screaming in warning, but his heart in disarray.

_This can't be happening! There's no way that this could be happening! Our baby was lost, and as much as I tried, the hougyoku couldn't give me what was lost before._

_Why? _

_Why now?_

_Why is it possible now?_

He stared at Aizen, the answer striking him almost visibly as Aizen's warm hand curved around his cheek.

_That's it, isn't it? So simple. So obvious. It's the hougyoku's influence. It wasn't possible at the time, but it is now. It wasn't possible then, because we had to change to make it possible. Now that we have and we are here, we can do what we couldn't have before. There is a small window of opportunity._

Aizen watched him carefully as he turned the facts over in his mind and only continued to come to the same conclusion.

_I can revive Daisuke's and my dream._

_All I have to do is..._

"You see it, don't you?" Aizen whispered, bringing his lips to Kisuke's and capturing them in a long, spellbinding kiss.

And despite knowing exactly the danger represented by the man in front of him, Kisuke surrendered to the stronger call of desperation to undo the greatest failure of his life, the one thing he couldn't anticipate and head off with his powerful intellect.

_I was so in love and distracted with having our baby, I lost the ability to see the path ahead. And when I lost Daisuke, I lost the desire to see it. I've spent years suffering over that, and I am only going to continue to suffer if I don't bring home what part of Daisuke's dream I can. _

_Does it come with strings?_ he mused, staring into Aizen's eyes and returning his offered kiss hungrily, _Hell yeah, there are some huge strings. But...Daisuke was always the one thing that balanced Sousuke's penchant for wickedness. Sousuke loved his brother in a way that he never loved anything or anyone. Damn, I think we both need for this to happen!_

He kept his grey eyes locked with Aizen's and nodded barely perceptibly in acceptance. His body relaxed in Aizen's embrace as Sousuke laid him slowly down on his back and leaned over him, kissing him and rubbing his still clothed body against Kisuke's. The shopkeeper's eyes slid closed and he breathed in deeply, taking in Aizen's warm, masculine scent and moaning very softly in anticipation as Aizen's hand slipped under his yukata and caressed his broad chest, earning an aroused sigh and he teased the dusky, alert nipples with his fingers. He followed with his mouth, treasuring each slowly as he watched the powerful reaction in the shopkeeper's expression. Aizen felt a little flicker in the hougyoku and heard Kisuke moan more amorously as the orb glowed and pulsed strangely.

_What are you doing_?" Aizen mused inwardly, looking down at the hougyoku, _He looks as though he isn't really seeing me_.

As usual, the orb did not give any answer.

Aizen's brown eyes studied the shopkeeper's reactions closely as he dampened his fingers with saliva, then began a slow and tantalizing preparation. He probed deeply, bringing Kisuke's hips up off the bed and making him moan more enthusiastically as he found the sensitive bundle of nerves inside him. The shopkeeper panted and thrashed helplessly, his grey eyes glazed over and clearly not seeing as Aizen completed his preparations and positioned himself for entry.

He plunged into the shopkeeper's biting mouth, expecting some lingering wariness and surprised when he felt no sign of hesitation or lingering suspicion.

_What are you doing? _he wondered, looking down at the orb in his chest again as he began his entry and Kisuke writhed beneath him, staring up at him through unseeing eyes, then shocking him soundly with what escaped his lips.

"Daisuke!"

Aizen froze for a moment, half engaged in Kisuke's body and reeling as a question jolted him.

_Is the hougyoku using my powers of illusion to hypnotize him?_

Kisuke moaned hungrily and thrashed impatiently, teasing Aizen's alert member and distracting him out of his thoughts.

_This is the power that my brother's love had over him. He looks beautiful like this...so enchanting. What a lovely display of just how intense their romance was. But Daisuke chose well. Urahara Kisuke is a fascinating creature...so very intelligent. _

_It makes me a little regretful I made an enemy of him._

Sinking deeply into the shopkeeper's mouth, he completed his entry and paused, enjoying the fast rise and fall of Kisuke's chest, his eager kisses and the way those searching hands wanted to touch him everywhere. He began a slow, rhythmic thrusting, observing raptly how Kisuke's fingers ran lovingly through his brown hair, then traced the lines of his face, that strong, willful body moving with his. Rising onto his knees, he pulled the shopkeeper onto his lap, running his hands down Kisuke's strong back and taking hold of his soft, white bottom, squeezing and encouraging him as he rose and fell more and more roughly, his handsome face overwritten in bliss.

_I have never seen Urahara Kisuke like this...so relaxed and open, longing so much for his lover's touch and surrendering in a headlong, reckless manner to his passions. This man is so beautiful! No wonder Daisuke loved him so much. My own heart is fluttering._

Kisuke made a sound so erotic, it seemed to speak directly to Aizen's wanting privates. The shopkeeper flew off his lap and crashed down onto his belly, lifting his hips and inviting an enthusiastic approach from behind. Completely entranced, Aizen dove down onto his back, entering roughly, and finished with a wild barrage of hard, fast thrusts. They climaxed violently together, then turned to face each other, surrendering to a flurry of deep, penetrating kisses. Finally, they collapsed in each other's arms and dropped off into sleep, Kisuke's muddled mind reliving the nights in Daisuke's arms, while Aizen Sousuke found himself in the unenviable position of feeling like the odd man out.

_It's strange. Daisuke is gone. There is no reason why I shouldn't pursue him. He's probably the only man alive that I could see as my equal. And he is getting to me._

His heart skipped as he mentally replayed their spirited lovemaking, but again, he was nagged by that slight feeling of disappointment that the shopkeeper's responses were not aimed at him at all, but at a man who was dead.

_The hougyoku is being rather cruel to him, and using me to do so. I wonder what his reaction will be when he wakes and finds himself in my arms and realizes he was just dreaming._

He tried to fall asleep, but couldn't drop off, so he instead, held Kisuke against him, letting his fingers play in the tousled blonde hair and caressing his back and bottom affectionately. Some time later, he felt Kisuke shift in his arms, and the shopkeeper's eyes opened and focused on him. He felt a thin shaft of disappointment at the way the grey eyes searched him for a moment, then blinked and saddened in acceptance.

"Are you having regrets?" Aizen asked, breathing in his scent and forcing his hands to only hold him without exploring anymore.

"No," Kisuke answered quietly, "If there's a way for me to give Daisuke what I failed to give him before, even if it means letting you inside me, I'll do it. And you know me. I never have time for regrets. I'm just on to the next problem."

"Hmm," Aizen mused, his heart darkening into moodiness.

"What's wrong?" Kisuke asked, looking back over his shoulder, "Are you having regrets now?"

"Perhaps. I didn't realize how lovely you are in the throes of orgasm. I think I'm becoming attached."

"Not my problem," Kisuke answered blithely, sliding out of the bed and standing.

Instantly, dizziness swept over him and his legs began to collapse.

Aizen shot out of the bed and caught him up, then laid him back on the bed as he blinked and breathed slowly, very gradually recovering.

"Are you all right?" Aizen asked, briefly scanning the shopkeeper's body.

"Fine," Kisuke said a little shortly, "I just got up too fast. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some things to look over in the lab."

"Would you like me to help with the tests as before?"

Kisuke shrugged.

"Help. Don't help. Doesn't matter to me."

"That is a sharp turn, Urahara Kisuke," Aizen commented, "to seem so fully involved while we were joined sexually and yet to take on so much disregard after."

"What? Are you upset because you know I wasn't with you in my head?" Kisuke asked brusquely, "You had to know that's where I would go. I'm not letting you into my head, Sousuke. Remember, I know who you are."

"You do," Aizen agreed.

_There is something not right with him. The hougyoku fed him that illusion of my brother, and used me to impregnate him, using the remaining remnant of Daisuke's reiatsu. It is also stoking Kisuke's distrust of me...creating a smokescreen. The problem is, if I inform him, he won't believe me. He will think I am manipulating him. That's natural, considering I am a manipulating, conniving person. The hougyoku knows this and is taking full advantage. I can't make a move, other than to remain wary and try to anticipate what plan it has._

_Yes, the hougyoku is definitely playing upon Kisuke's emotions for a reason. I need to learn what that reason is._

He left the bed and followed Kisuke into the hallway, pausing and watching the shopkeeper enter the laboratory, then he turned away and headed instead to the shopkeeper's hot healing spring. He sank down into the bubbling water, breathing slowly and thinking things over carefully.

_The hougyoku is aware that Urahara Kisuke was chosen by Central 46 to destroy it. It also knows that it was created by Daisuke. So, is it just trying to use its connection to those two to convince Kisuke not to destroy it? Or is there a more insidious plan? Kisuke is so focused now on being able to have Daisuke's child, he isn't looking at things with the clarity he usually does. The pregnancy is blinding him, and that blinding is deliberate._

He mulled over the situation as he finished bathing, then dried off and walked back to the kitchen. He hesitated for a moment as he spotted Kuchiki Byakuya sitting at the table, alongside his new husband, Abarai Renji.

"Well," Renji huffed, glaring up at him, "if it isn't the devil himself. You must be feeling pretty cocky, out here enjoying the fresh air amongst the people you tried to kill."

"Renji," Byakuya said calmly, "will you excuse us, please? I would like to have a word with the prisoner."

"Hmph, doesn't look too imprisoned to me," Renji commented, rising and kissing Byakuya on the cheek before exiting the room.

"Is this where you give me a nasty speech about how you are watching me, and you won't let me get away with anything?" Aizen sighed, sliding into a chair and running his hands over his face, "It seems to be the common reaction of everyone here."

"Did you expect any different?" Byakuya inquired, "Renji was correct in pointing out that you did try to murder us all. And you are sitting in Karakura Town, a town you tried to destroy and kill all of its residents. You could hardly expect to be welcomed with open arms...and yet, by Urahara Kisuke, you have been, haven't you?"

Aizen looked back at Byakuya silently.

"Don't you want to ask me how I know that you went to bed with him?" Byakuya inquired.

"It doesn't matter how you know," Aizen answered, accepting a plate of food from Tessai, "I will consider myself warned that you are watching my every move. But I expect that. As you say, I did try to murder all of you. You would be unwise to take your eyes off of me."

_Although everyone here seems to be completely overlooking the hougyoku. But for most of them, it makes sense. They associate me with the hogyoku, almost as though they think that I still control it. And it is still fused with my soul. But even though the rest of them could logically be fooled that way, Kisuke shouldn't be._

The thought nagged at him as he finished eating, then left the kitchen and walked past the bedroom he and Kisuke had shared and to the laboratory door. The door stood partway open, and though not sure what made him do it, he paused and angled himself to look inside the room before entering. His eyes narrowed in surprise at what he witnessed.

Kisuke stood near the laboratory window, looking out at the calm, blue sky, with tears running in streams down his face. Shocked by the sight and wholly unable to stop himself, he stepped into the room, catching the other man's attention and making him turn away sharply. Aizen moved forward, crossing the room and stopping behind Kisuke as the shopkeeper quickly composed himself.

"There are some results to be entered over at the computer," Kisuke said, his voice slightly muffled and his tone clipped.

"In a moment," Aizen answered, moving closer and sliding his arms around the shopkeeper from behind.

"Stop it," Kisuke warned him.

But there didn't seem to be any force behind the words, and he didn't move to push Aizen away as his arms embraced the shopkeeper and he brushed his cheek against Kisuke's.

"Riled emotions aren't good for you and your child," Aizen offered, "I am only providing comfort you need to gather yourself. You weren't expecting to be able to bear Daisuke's child. And being given that opportunity would certainly cause you to have a strong reaction. I know exactly how much you loved my brother."

"I'm fine. I don't need to be held by the likes of you."

"No, not you. You hold yourself up well in any situation...whether being heralded as a new taichou, being banished unfairly, or bringing hope to the ones despairing at being on the edges of disaster, when one of your brilliant schemes changes the tide."

"You _do_ remember that you are the reason I was banished, don't you?" Kisuke reminded him.

"Of course. And although Ichigo is the one who defeated me, I also know he wouldn't have without your intercession. I know exactly who you are. And right now, I know it is best if you are comforted. You have taken away all of my possible advantages and moves. I can do nothing as you work at undoing the hougyoku. And in truth, I won't be sorry to see it destroyed."

"Not liking immortality?" Kisuke inquired wryly, regaining a measure of his levity.

"It has its ups and downs...much like what you're going through."

Kisuke gave him a measured look, then relaxed in his embrace. Aizen's hands slid down his sides and passed over his midsection, infusing the area with his reiatsu. He paused for a moment at the flutter of life he felt blossoming beneath his hands.

_It's cruel. It really is like touching the soul of the brother I lost...feeling the life in this little one._

"Look," Kisuke said, startling him with the somewhat vulnerable edge to his voice, "I know you have to provide the stabilizing reiatsu, but I..."

"You want me to know that you aren't interested in me at all? That you don't want me misreading the way you look at me or respond to my touch? That you weren't even aware I was there as we made this child of my brother?"

Kisuke looked back at him quietly, still blinking back tears.

"Believe me when I say that I know fully well what you are thinking, and what you were thinking while we were together. But you need to understand that whatever your feelings are, I am connected to this child through my brother. And although you've seen me act like a monster, the love I felt for Daisuke was something you saw and knew existed. I am as invested in this child's entrance into the world as you are, and that is why I have to tell you...the hogyoku..."

He broke off as a sharp pain lanced through his chest, tightening until he couldn't continue to speak. His lungs couldn't inhale and he quickly collapsed onto his knees. Kisuke grabbed him and eased him to the ground, calling his name frantically as he struggled to regain control. And as he struggled, a familiar and now malevolent voice sounded in his mind.

_Don't._

Aizen's lips parted in a gasp for air and he panted as the tightness left his chest and he gradually began to recover. He looked up at Kisuke's tormented expression and felt a touch of relief.

_He knows._

_He knows now that the hougyoku is working us. But even knowing that, he is in a dangerous position. This was a direct threat towards me, but the hougyoku was also warning Kisuke through the hint of a threat to the child. We are going to have to move carefully._

"Are you all right now?" Kisuke asked, sounding oddly sincere, "You'd better let me have a look at you."

"What is the point?" Aizen sighed, glancing down at the orb in his chest, "We both understand, don't we, Kisuke?

A flicker of genuine fear appeared in Kisuke's grey eyes, then disappeared again. He slid an arm around Aizen and helped him to his feet, guiding him back to the bedroom, where Aizen laid down in the bed. Kisuke paused and looked conflicted for a moment, then slid in next to him. Aizen felt a touch of genuine sympathy go through him as Kisuke's arms embraced him and the shopkeeper pressed close to him.

_You are caught between twin devils, aren't you? _Aizen mused, _You have a vulnerable child to protect and two deadly forces you have to manage. You are a wonder, indeed. Such a thing would drive most men insane._

_But...if anyone can thwart the hougyoku, you can._

_I don't want to consider our fate or the fate of our worlds...if you should fail._


End file.
